James River Group Holdings, the Bermuda-based insurance holdings company, has posted a net income $26.3 million for the third quarter of 2020, compared with a net loss of $25.2 million for the same period last year.
Adjusted net operating income similarly improved to $17.4 million, compared to a loss of $22.2 million last year.
But at the same time, overall revenues decreased from $231.5 million to $177.5 million, primarily due to a $78.7 million drop in net written premiums.
Net written premiums came to $145.2 million for the quarter, versus $223.9 million in Q3 2019, representing a 35% decrease.
Casualty reinsurance was the James River segment with the largest drop in net written premium, sliding 47% from $37.6 million to $19.8 million.
Excess and surplus lines similarly decreased 26% from $241.0 million to $179.5 million, while specialty admitted insurance increased by 12% from $100.5 million to $112.6 million.
The casualty reinsurance segment turned an underwriting loss of $689,000 for Q3, an improvement on an underwriting loss of $4.3 million last year.
Excess and surplus lines underwriting profit was $15.6 million versus a loss of $29.4 million previously, and specialty admitted insurance underwriting profit came to $1.9 million, up from $837,000 previously.
Additionally, James River’s net investment income for Q3 was $15.0 million, which compares to $17.9 million for the same period in 2019. The decrease was mainly due to lower investment income from its bank loan portfolio resulting from a smaller portfolio and lower investment yields.
“Our Company delivered another very strong quarter,” said J. Adam Abram, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of James River.
“Market conditions are extremely attractive across our businesses. Core E&S gross written premiums increased 28% this quarter compared to the same period a year ago. New business submissions in our E&S segment increased by 9% and renewal applications increased by 27%,” he continued.
“This is an indication that risks are remaining in the non-admitted market longer than in prior years. We benefited from a 12.8% increase in rate in E&S. This was the 15th sequential quarter in which E&S rates have increased. E&S policies in force have grown by 26% since the third quarter of 2019.”
“Our efforts to grow our fronting business continue to bear fruit, as evidenced by our 14% increase in fronted premium and 17% increase in fee income in our Specialty Admitted Insurance segment as compared to the third quarter of last year.”
